Spill, baby, spill

The Boston Globe‘s “The Big Picture” put out breath-taking, absolutely horrifying photos of what’s happening in the Gulf, including the one featured above.It’s really worth taking the time to scroll through them. And just think — those pictures were taken nearly a week ago. How bad is it now?

What else is happening down there?

“Scientists are finding enormous oil plumes in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, including one as large as 10 miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet thick in spots,” reports The New York Times. “The plumes are depleting the oxygen dissolved in the gulf, worrying scientists, who fear that the oxygen level could eventually fall so low as to kill off much of the sea life near the plumes.”

“Two refineries owned by oil giant BP account for 97 percent of all flagrant violations found in the refining industry by government safety inspectors over the past three years,” according to the Center for Public Integrity. OSHA classified most of the violations as “egregious willful.”